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SILICON SILIC CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher/Editor Nicholas Vinen Technical Editor John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc. Bao Smith, B.Sc. Tim Blythman, B.E., B.Sc. Nicolas Hannekum, Dip. Elec. Tech. Technical Contributor Duraid Madina, B.Sc, M.Sc, PhD Art Director & Production Manager Ross Tester Reader Services Ann Morris Advertising Enquiries Glyn Smith Phone (02) 9939 3295 Mobile 0431 792 293 glyn<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Dave Thompson David Maddison B.App.Sc. (Hons 1), PhD, Grad.Dip.Entr.Innov. Geoff Graham Associate Professor Graham Parslow Ian Batty Cartoonist Brendan Akhurst Founding Editor (retired) Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Silicon Chip is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 626 922 870. ABN 20 880 526 923. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Subscription rates (12 issues): $105.00 per year, post paid, in Australia. For overseas rates, see our website or email silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au Recommended & maximum price only. Editorial office: Unit 1 (up ramp), 234 Harbord Rd, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9939 3295. E-mail: silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au ISSN 1030-2662 Printing and Distribution: Editorial Viewpoint New computer technology We haven’t published articles on personal computers in quite some time. The last one that I can find, in May 2012, is on optimising ADSL internet connections. There was also an article on the Linux operating system in July 2011 and a Macbook review in March 2010. Partly that’s because Silicon Chip isn’t a computer magazine, but of course, computers are made from silicon chips. The most advanced, powerful and flexible chips ever made are computer processors of various types. They contain billions of transistors and result from countless hours of engineering and testing, plus extremely impressive manufacturing techniques. One reason we’ve published so few computer articles of late is that computer technology has been somewhat stagnant over the last decade. There have been plenty of improvements in that time, but they’ve mostly been incremental. I think that’s starting to change now, so I plan to give computers some coverage, If you aren’t into computers, don’t worry, we’ll still have plenty of DIY and other articles. We’ll just be occasionally adding a computer-themed article into the mix. As evidence of the recent advances in computing technology, three major product series launches at the end of last year saw stocks of these new products almost immediately exhausted as production could not keep up with demand. Those were AMD’s Ryzen 5000 CPUs and Radeon 6000 series GPUs (graphics cards), and Nvidia’s RTX 3000 series GPUs. Apple also just released a line of Macs using their own ARM-based processors (the Apple Silicon M1) which have incredible levels of power efficiency and some other impressive features. The lack of availability was partly due to these new devices being so much more capable than the previously available equivalents, at similar prices (if you can find one). There were also supply problems due to COVID-19 (and many people being forced to stay at home also increased demand). It’s mind-boggling to realise that for a couple of thousand dollars, you can put together a computer that can perform over 30 trillion (3 × 1013) calculations per second! Solid-state data storage has also come a long way in the last year or two, with incredible speeds (more than four gigabytes per second for consumerlevel parts!), very high capacities and relatively low costs. So, we will likely have a handful of computer how-to articles this year. The first, in this issue, shows how to upgrade a PC to the latest AMD Ryzen 5000 series of CPUs (it is also mostly applicable to Intel CPU-based systems). We’ll also have some in-depth stories on the technology behind the incredible power of modern computers. The articles we have planned will describe some fascinating technology that I think many of our readers will not have heard of, or if they have, won’t know a lot about. To throw another almost unbelievable number out there, it is now possible to build a computer with over ten thousand computing units, each capable of executing instructions and performing calculations. We plan to do that and describe some of the challenges involved. By the way, Silicon Chip used to run quite a few computer columns in the early days, including one called “Computer Bits” from July 1989 to December 1998. We also had all sorts of other articles on topics like setting up a network, upgrading computer CPUs, computer reviews etc. Of course, PCs were not as mainstream back then and required a lot more DIY. So I don’t plan to go back to that sort of content. But the odd article on computer technology and some interesting computers you can build or modify yourself should be part of the mix of a magazine named after the very technology behind them. Nicholas Vinen 24-26 Lilian Fowler Pl, Marrickville 2204 2 Silicon Chip Australia’s electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au